The present invention relates to a mobile system for the chemical and radiation decontamination of equipment and more particularly to a system for decontaminating the man carried equipment of emergency services such as fire departments responding to a chemical or radiation disaster in which their equipment may become contaminated with toxic chemical substances as a result of efforts to fight the disaster and to rescue persons who have been injured or contaminated in the disaster.
As described in my patent application Ser. No. 037,208 filed on Apr. 10, 1987, entitled "Chemical and/or Radiation Decontamination", presently existing facilities for dealing with emergencies occurring as a result of accidents in chemical plants are inadequate to meet any major disaster. My earlier application deals with the problem of maintaining the integrity of hospital facilities receiving large numbers of contaminated persons injured in such accidents.
Another aspect of the problem in dealing with such disasters concerns the equipment carried by emergency rescue teams to deal with any consequential fire, explosions (real or potential), rescue of injured and endangered personnel, and the securing of toxic, inflammable, or explosive products and the like which may be exposed. During such rescue operations, the equipment carried by the rescue personnel may become contaminated with toxic substances with the resulting danger that the toxic substances may be spread to themselves or other persons caught up in the disaster.
Present efforts for dealing with this problem involve turning water hoses on the personnel and man-carried equipment, offering minimal effectiveness and also increasing the chance of spreading the contaminants through the run-off water.